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PHANTASIA

NAME

phantasia
- an interterminal fantasy game

SYNOPSIS

[-abHmpSsx
]

DESCRIPTION

is a role playing game
which allows players to roll up characters of various types to fight
monsters and other players.
Progression of characters is based upon gaining experience from fighting
monsters (and other players).

Most of the game is menu driven and self-explanatory (more or less).
The screen is cursor updated, so be sure to set up the
TERM
variable in your environment.

The options provide for a variety of functions to support the game.
They are:

-a

Get a listing of all character names on file.

-b

Show scoreboard of top characters per login.

-H

Print header only.

-m

Get a monster listing.

-p

Purge old characters.

-S

Turn on wizard options, if allowed, if running as
``root''

-s

Invokes
without header information.

-x

Examine/change a particular character on file.

The characters are saved on a common file, in order to make the game
interactive between players. The characters are given a password
in order to retrieve them later. Only characters above
level
zero are saved. Characters unused for awhile will be purged.
Characters are only placed on the scoreboard when they die.

AUTHOR

Edward Estes, AT&T Information Systems, Skokie, IL

PARTICULARS

Normal Play

A number of the player's more important statistics are almost always
displayed on the screen, with maximums (where applicable) in
parentheses.

The character is placed randomly near the center of a cartesian
system.
Most commands are selected with a single letter or digit.
For example, one may move by hitting 'W', 'S', 'N', or 'E',
(lower case may also be used, at no time is the game case dependent).
One may also use 'H', 'J', 'K', 'L',
for movement, similar to
vi(1).
To move to a specific (x, y) coordinate, use the
move
('1') command. The distance a character can move is calculated by
1 plus 1.5 per
level
Moving in a compass direction will move the player the maximum
allowed distance in that direction.

A player may see who else is playing by using the
players
('2') option. One may see the coordinates of those who are the same
distance or closer to the origin as he/she.
Kings
and
council of the wise
can see and can be seen by everyone. A
palantir
removes these restrictions.

One can talk to other players with the
talk
('3') option. In general, this is a line or so of text. To remove a current
message, just type <return> when prompted for a message.

The
stats
('4') option shows additional characteristics of a player.

One may leave the game either with the
quit
('5') option.

One may rest by default. Resting lets one regain maximum
energy level
and also lets one find
mana
(more is found for larger levels and further distances from the origin).

One may call a monster by hitting '9' or 'C'.

Use 'X' to examine other players.

One may quit or execute a sub-shell by hitting interrupt.
Quitting during battle results in death for obvious reasons.

Several other options become available as the player progresses in
level
and
magic
or to other stations in the game (
valarcouncil of the wiseking )
These are described elsewhere.
In general, a control-L will force the redrawing of the screen.

Other things which may happen are more or less self-explanatory.

Fighting Monsters

A player has several options while fighting monsters. They are as follows:

melee

Inflicts damage on the monster, based upon
strength
Also decreases the monster's
strength
some.

skirmish

Inflicts a little less damage than
melee
but decreases the monster's
quickness
instead.

evade

Attempt to run away. Success is based upon both the player's and
the monster's
brains
and
quickness

spell

Several options for throwing spells (described elsewhere).

nick

Hits the monster one plus the player's
sword
and gives the player 10% of the monster's
experience
Decreases the monster's
experience
an amount proportional to the amount granted.
This also increases the monster's quickness.
Paralyzed monsters wake up very fast when nicked.

luckout

This is essentially a battle of wits with the monster. Success is based
upon the player's and the monster's
brains
The player gets credit for slaying the monster if he/she succeeds.
Otherwise, nothing happens, and the chance to
luckout
is lost.

Character Statistics

strength

determines how much damage a character can inflict.

quickness

determines how many chances a character gets to make decisions while
fighting.

energy level

specifies how much damage a character may endure before dying.

magic level

determines which spells a character may throw, and how effective those
spells will be.

brains

basically, the character's intelligence; used for various fighting options
and spells.

mana

used as a power source for throwing spells.

experience

gained by fighting monsters and other characters.

level

indicative of how much experience a character has accumulated; progresses
geometrically as
experience
increases.

accumulated as a character does certain nasty things; used only rarely
in normal play of the game.

age

of player; roughly equivalent to number of turns.
As
age
increases, many personal statistics degenerate.

Character Types

Character statistics are rolled randomly from the above list, according
to character type. The types are as follows:

magic user

strong in
magic level
and
brains
weak in other areas. Must rely on wits and magic to survive.

fighter

good in
strength
and
energy level
fairly good in other areas. This adds up to a well-equipped fighter.

elf

very high
quickness
and above average
magic level
are
elves
selling points.

dwarf

very high
strength
and
energy level
but with a tendency to be rather slow and not too bright.

halfling

rather quick and smart, with high
energy level
but poor in
magic
and
strength
Born with some
experience

experimento

very mediocre in all areas. However, the
experimento
may be placed almost anywhere within the playing grid.

The possible ranges for starting statistics are summarized in
the following table.

Type

Strength

Quick

Mana

Energy

Brains

Magic

Mag. User

10-15

30-35

50-100

30-45

60-85

5-9

Fighter

40-55

30-35

30-50

45-70

25-45

3-6

Elf

35-45

32-38

45-90

30-50

40-65

4-7

Dwarf

50-70

25-30

25-45

60-100

20-40

2-5

Halfling

20-25

34

25-45

55-90

40-75

1-4

Experimento

25

27

100

35

25

2

Not only are the starting characteristics different for the different
character types, the characteristics progress at different rates for the
different types as the character goes up in
levelExperimentoes
characteristics progress randomly as one of the other types.
The progression as characters increase in
level
is summarized in the following table.

Type

Strength

Mana

Energy

Brains

Magic

Mag. User

2.0

75

20

6

2.75

Fighter

3.0

40

30

3.0

1.5

Elf

2.5

65

25

4.0

2.0

Dwarf

5

30

35

2.5

1

Halfling

2.0

30

30

4.5

1

The character type also determines how much gold a player may
carry, how long until
rings
can overcome the player, and how much
poison
the player can withstand.

Spells

During the course of the game, the player may exercise his/her
magic powers. These cases are described below.

cloak

magic level necessary
20 (plus level 7)
mana used
35 plus 3 per rest period
Used during normal play. Prevents monsters from finding the character,
as well as hiding the player from other players. His/her coordinates
show up as '?' in the
players
option. Players cannot collect
mana
find trading posts, or discover the
grail
while cloaked. Calling a monster uncloaks, as well as choosing
this option while cloaked.

teleport

magic level necessary
40 (plus level 12)
mana used
30 per 75 moved
Used during normal play. Allows the player to move with much more freedom
than with the
move
option, at the price of expending mana. The maximum distance possible
to move is based upon
level
and
magic level

power blast

magic level necessary
none
mana used
5 times
level
Used during inter-terminal battle. Damage is based upon
magic level
and
strength
Hits much harder than a normal hit.

all or nothing

magic level necessary
none
mana used
1
Used while combating monsters.
Has a 25% chance of working. If it works it hits the monster just enough
to kill it. If it fails, it doesn't hit the monster, and doubles the
monster's
quickness
and
strength
Paralyzed monsters wake up much quicker as a result of this spell.

magic bolt

magic level necessary
5
mana used
variable
Used while combating monsters. Hits the monster based upon the amount
of
mana
expended and
magic level
Guaranteed to hit at least 10 per
mana

force field

magic level necessary
15
mana used
30
Used during monster combat. Throws up a shield to protect from damage.
The shield is added to actual energy level, and is a fixed number, based
upon maximum energy. Normally, damage occurs first to the shield, and
then to the players actual
energy level

transform

magic level necessary
25
mana used
50
Used during monster combat. Transforms the monster randomly into one
of the 100 monsters from the monster file.

increase might

magic level necessary
35
mana used
75
Used during combat with monsters. Increases strength up to a maximum.

invisibility

magic level necessary
45
mana used
90
Used while fighting monsters. Makes it harder for the monster to hit,
by temporarily increasing the player's
quickness
This spell may be thrown several times, but a maximum level will be reached.

transport

magic level necessary
60
mana used
125
Used during monster combat. Transports the monster away from the
player. Success is base upon player's
magic
and
brains
and the monster's
experience
If it fails the player is transported instead. 60% of the time, the monster
will drop any treasure it was carrying.

paralyze

magic level necessary
75
mana used
150
Used during monster combat.
``Freezes''
the monster by putting its
quickness
slightly negative. The monster will slowly wake up. Success is based
upon player's
magic
and the monster's
experience
If it fails, nothing happens.

specify

magic level necessary
none
mana used
1000
Used during monster combat only by
valar
or
council of the wise
Allows the player to pick which monster to fight.

Monsters

Monsters get bigger as one moves farther from the origin (0,0). Rings of
distance 125 from the origin determine the size. A monster's
experienceenergy level
and
brains
are multiplied by the size.
Strength
is increased 50% per size over one, and
quickness
remains the same, regardless of size.

Also, nastier monsters are found as one progress farther out
from the origin. Monsters also may flock. The percent chance of that
happening is designated as
flock%
in the monster listing. Monsters outside the first ring
may carry treasure, as determined by their treasure type.
Flocking monsters, and bigger monsters increase the chances of treasure.

Certain monsters have special abilities; they are as follows:

Unicorn

can only be subdued if the player is in possession of a
virgin

Modnar

has random characteristics, including treasure type.

Mimic

will pick another name from the list of monsters in order to
confuse.

Dark Lord

very nasty person. Does not like to be hit (especially nicked),
and many spells do not work well (or at all) against him.
One can always
evade
from the
Dark Lord

Leanan-Sidhe

also a very nasty person. She will permanently sap
strength
from someone.

Saruman

wanders around with
Wormtongue
who can steal a
palantir
Also,
Saruman
may turn a player's gems into gold pieces,
or scramble her/his stats.

may inflict damage through a
force field
This subtracts from
energy level
instead of any shield the player may have thrown up.
This is a very easy way to die.

Cerberus

loves metal and will steal all the metal treasures from
a player if able.

Ungoliant

can bite and poison. This inflicts five
poisons
and also takes one from the player's
quickness

Jabberwock

may tire of battle, and leave after calling one of his friends
( Jubjub Bird
or
Bandersnatch )

Morgoth

actually
Modnar
but reserved for
council of the wise , valar
and
ex-valar
Fights with
Morgoth
end when either he or the player dies. His characteristics
are calculated based upon the player's. The player is given
the chance to ally with him. No magic, except
force field
works when battling
Morgoth

charm
- protects from cursed treasure (used before
amulet )
used in conjunction with
blessing
to battle
Dark LordMerlyn
- adds
brains , magic
and
manawar hammer
- like an
axe
but bigger.

Type eight

healing potion
- sets
poison
to -2, or subtracts two from
poison
whichever is better.
transporter
- allows finder to move anywhere.
sword
- like a
war hammer
but bigger.

Type nine

golden crown
- allows the player to become
king
by going to (0,0).
blessing
- cuts
sin
to 1/3, adds
mana
rests to maximum, kills
Dark Lord
with a
charm
and gives bearer first hit on all monsters.
quicksilver
- adds to
quickness

Type ten

elven boots
- adds permanently to
quickness

Type eleven

palantir
- allows one to see all the other players; used by
council of the wise
to seek the
grail

A monster may also be carrying
gold
or
gems
These are used at
trading posts
to buy things. A
gem
is worth 1000 gold pieces. Too much
gold
will slow a player down. One may carry 1000 plus 200 per
level
of
gold
A
gem
weighs one half a gold piece.
Monsters of treasure type 7 or higher may carry
gems

The chance of a cursed treasure is based upon treasure type.
The more valuable treasures have a greater chance of being cursed.
A cursed treasure knocks
energy level
very low, and adds 0.25
poison

Rings

Rings
are only carried by
nazguls
and
Dark Lords
They come in four different flavors.
All
rings
rest the player to maximum and cause him/her to hit much harder
in battle with monsters (assuming one has chosen to use the
ring
for battle.)

Two types of
rings
are cursed and come either from
nazguls
or
Dark Lord
After a few times of using these types, the player falls
under the control of the
ring
and strange, random things will occur.
Eventually, the player dies, and gives his/her name to a monster
on the file.
Dying before the
ring
is used up also renames the monster.

The two remaining types of
rings
are much more benign.
The one from a
nazgul
is good for a limited number of battle rounds, and will save
the player from death if it was being used when he/she died.
The one from
Dark Lord
is the same, except that it never is used up.
rings
disappear after saving someone from death.
In general, cursed
rings
occur much more often than normal ones.
It is usually not a good idea to pick one up.
The only way to get rid of a
ring
is to have a monster steal it.

King

A player may become
king
by finding a
crown
and going to (0,0). Players must have a
level
in the range of 10 to 1000 to be able to find a
crown
When a player with one or more
crowns
reaches
level
1000, the
crowns
are converted to
gold

Once a player is king, he/she may do certain things while in
the Lord's Chamber (0,0). These are exercised with the
decree
('0') option.

transport

This is done to another player. It randomly moves the affected
player about. A
charm
protects from transports.

curse

This is done to another player. It is analogous to cursed treasure,
but worse. It inflicts two
poison
knocks
energy level
very low, and degrades the maximum energy. It also
removes a
cloak
A
blessing
protects from king's curses.

energy void

The king may put a number of these scattered about
his/her kingdom as he/she pleases.
If a player hits one, he/she loses
mana , energy
and
gold
The energy void disappears after being hit.

bestow

This is also done to another player. The king may
wish to reward one or more loyal subjects by sharing his/her
riches
( gold )
Or it is a convenient way to dispose of some unwanted
deadweight.

collect taxes

Everyone pays 7% tax on all
gold
and
gems
acquired, regardless of the existence of a
king
The king collects the accrued taxes with this option.

The
king
may also
teleport
anywhere for free by using the origin as a starting place.

Council of the Wise, Valar

A player automatically becomes a member of the
council of the wise
upon reaching level 3000. Members of the council cannot have
rings
Members of the council have a few extra options which they can exercise.
These are exercised with the
intervene
('8') option.
All
intervene
options cost 1000 mana.
One
intervene
option is to
heal
another player. This is just a quick way for that player to be rested
to maximum and lose a little
poison
The main purpose in life for members of the council is to seek the
Holy Grail
This is done with a
palantir
under the
seek grail
option. The distance cited by the seek is accurate within 10%, in order
not to make it too easy to find the grail.
A player must have infinitesimally small
sin
or else it's all over upon finding the grail.
In order to help members of the council on their quest, they
may
teleport
with greater ease.

Upon finding the grail, the player advances to position of
valar
He/she may then exercise more and niftier options under
intervention
These include all of the council members' options plus the
ability to move other players about, bless them, and throw monsters at
them.
A
valar 's
blessing has the same effect as the treasure
blessing
except that the affected player does not get his/her
blessing
flag set.
All
intervention
options which affect other players age the player
who uses them.
Valars
are essentially immortal, but are actually given five lives.
If these are used up, the player is left to die, and becomes an
ex-valar
A
valar
cannot
move , teleport
or call monsters.
(An exception to this is if the
valar
finds a
transporter .
This is to allow him/her to dispose of excess
gold
Any monsters which a
valar
encounters are based upon his/her size.
Only one valar may exist at a time.
The current valar is replaced when another player finds the grail.
The valar is then bumped back to the council of the wise.

Wizard

The
wizard
is usually the owner of the game, and the one who maintains
the associated files.
The
wizard
is granted special powers within the game, if it is invoked
with the
-S
option.
Otherwise, the
wizard
plays no different from other players.
The
wizard
abilities are outlined below.

change players

When examining a player, (game invoked with
-x
or use 'X' from within game), the
wizard
may also change the player.

intervention

The
wizard
may do all the
intervention
options. One extra option,
vaporize
is added to kill any offensive players.

super character type

An extra character type is added. This character starts with the
maximum possible in all statistics, selected from the other character types.
A
super
character's statistics also progress at the maximum possible rate, selected
from the other character types.

Special Places

Certain regions of the playing grid have different names.
In general, this is only to give the player some idea of
his/her present location. Some special places do exist.

Trading Posts

These are located at |x| == |y| == n*n*100 for n = 1, 2, ..., 1000.
Trading posts farther out have more things for sale.
Be careful about cheating the merchants there, as they have short
tempers.
Merchants are dishonest about 5% of the time.

Lord's Chamber

This is located at (0,0). Only players with
crowns
may enter.

Point of Return

This is located beyond 1.2e+6 in any direction.
The only way to return from here is a
transporter
or to have a
valar
relocate the player.

Dead Marshes

This is a band located fairly distant from the origin. The first
fourteen monsters (water monsters) can normally only be found here.

Valhala

This place is where the
valar
resides. It is associated with no particular coordinate on the
playing grid.

Miscellaneous

Once a player reaches
level
5, the game will start to time out waiting for input.
This is to try to keep the game a bit faster paced.

A
guru
will never be disgusted with your
sins
if they are less than one.

A
medic
wants half of a player's
gold
to be happy. Offering more than one has, or a negative amount
will anger the
medic
who will make the player worse (add one
poison )

The
Holy Grail
does little for those who are not ready to behold it.
Whenever anyone finds it, it moves.
It is always located within 1e+6 in any compass direction of the origin.

There is a maximum amount of
mana
and
charms
a player may posses, based upon
levelQuicksilver
is always limited to to a maximum of 99.

Books
bought at a
trading post
increase
brains
based upon the number bought.
It is unwise, however to buy more than 1/10 of one's
level
in books at a time.

Players over level 10000 are automatically retired.

A
blindness
goes away in random time.

Players with
crowns
are identified with a '*' before their character type.

Inter-terminal Battle

When two player's coordinates correspond, they may engage in battle.
In general, the player with the highest
quickness
gets the first hit.
If the two players are severely mis-matched, the stronger player
is drastically handicapped for the battle.
In order to protect from being stuck in an infinite loop,
the player waiting for response may time out. Options for battle are:

fight

Inflicts damage upon other person.

run away

Escape from battle. Has a 75% chance of working.

power blast

Battle spell.

luckout

One-time chance to try to win against the foe. Has a 10% chance of
working.

Sometimes waits for the other player may be excessive, because
he/she may be battling a monster. Upon slaying a player in battle
the winner gets the other's
experience
and treasures.
Rings
do not work for inter-terminal battle.

BUGS

All screen formats assume at least 24 lines by at least 80 columns.
No provisions are made for when any of the data items get too big
for the allotted space on the screen.